


Meet Darth Maul

by eliza_IX



Category: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, V for Vendetta inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 11:40:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16764412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliza_IX/pseuds/eliza_IX
Summary: "Remember, rememberThe fifth of NovemberThe gunpowder treason and plot.I know of no reasonWhy the gunpowder treasonShould ever be forgot."But what of the man?





	Meet Darth Maul

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a sort of retelling of "V for Vendetta" in which Qi'ra is essentially Evey and Maul is V. The whole story is a flashback narrated as if it were a Qi'ra's remembrance.

It had been three years since he was gone, since the attack he had planned against the Death Star had failed, and the memory of him was all she possessed.  
  
Since his death, Qi'ra had remained completely lonely and nothing made sense anymore. 

And it wasn't an idea that she missed, but the man behind it. Her current life of easy money, unbridled luxury, and marvelous clothes had lost all attraction.

She felt her life was empty.

Long before, when she was younger, these had been her priorities and aspirations. Her harsh adolescence on the streets of Corellia – where only the strongest and most clever could survive, while the others were destined to pain and misery – had fueled in her the desire of escape and freedom. The time spent at Lady Proxima's service had forged her temper, made her a stronger and more self-confident woman, but she had also learned what her limitations were, the awareness everyone serves everyone and freedom could remain just a remote and unattainable dream.

The Empire and the syndicates controlled people, planets, and entire regions of the galaxy. They had strengthened vigilance in the cities and established a strict dictatorial regime from which it was impossible to escape. Censorship was tightened, freedom of expression suppressed, corruption spread everywhere, and the population died of hunger and poverty.

Qi'ra had no other choice but to work hard and execute orders if she didn't want a certain death.  
  
But one day she met him, and from that moment everything changed.

It was a cold November evening, she remembered clearly, that didn't seem very different from others but for her decision to break the curfew and get out of her apartment. The Voice of Fate announced at the loudspeakers the police had arrested a group of dissidents, the Silo area was in a quarantine zone, and the meat rationing would be over soon. Qi'ra had an underpaid job, and the prices of food and other convenience goods had never been so high. For these reasons, she had decided to earn money in an alternative way.

She wore a vulgar and worn out dress stolen that morning in a Silo shop, applied her lipstick, and went outside.  
  
The city was almost deserted, gloomy and sleazy just like the other days, the deathly silence broken only by disturbing noises. In the distance she heard the confused screams of some men probably captured and tortured by the Empire, and blaster shots echoed ominously in the empty streets.

Still she wasn't discouraged and didn't have to walk very long before she encountered a near-human male.

She came up to approach him.  
  
"Mister?" she started, and the figure turned to her.

He had short blond hair and threatening blue eyes, and he wore a long black coat that made him even more disquieting. Qi'ra thought she had made a serious mistake and wished she had never left her home.

"Yes?"  
  
She looked at him confused and thought about what she should say, then went on.  
  
"Would you like to sleep with me or... I mean, for money?" she asked finally.  
  
"You've not been doing this very long, have you?" he replied reluctantly. He looked at her scornfully, but Qi'ra was aware it was too late to go back.

"You're right," she said embarrassed, "you're my first... customer."  
  
It was the first time she'd done such a thing and she didn't know how to say it, but she realized she would lose the customer – and the money – if the conversation continued on that way.  
  
"Mister, please, let's go. I need money. I'll be ok, I know what I'm doing" she begged, hoping this would convince him.

But to her surprise, she got the opposite reaction.

"No, you don't."

The expression of the near-human became even darker as he moved closer to her. The street was dreary, occasionally lit only by some lampposts, and there was no one nearby.

Suddenly he snapped.

"If you did, you wouldn't have picked the Lord of the Crimson Dawn!"

Qi'ra realized instantly the man in front of her was the bloody Dryden Vos. His reputation was known throughout Corellia. She was shocked, knew she was in terrible trouble, and implored him hoping he would show pity.

"Oh, no! Please, it was my first time, I'm sorry."

It wasn't her intention to start crying – she would never have given him or anyone this satisfaction – but she knew she had to be credible saying this.

"Not yet, you're not. But you will be. You know the laws on prostitution."

As he was talking, three White Worms promptly approached them and slammed Qi'ra against a wall, threatening her. She hadn't noticed their presence before and it upset her even more.

There was no one nearby; she was done for.

"Please, don't do this. I swear, I won't do it again!"

Qi'ra knew what the men of the Crimson Dawn were capable of doing. She had heard horrible stories about them and was aware she probably would never return home.

"No Miss, now you'll do anything we want", the despicable near-human sentenced.

She was in a panic. Dryden Vos approached her and was about to raise her skirt as his men held her steady, when suddenly they heard a voice speaking.

"The multiplying villainies of nature do swarm upon him..."

An ambiguous figure dressed in black appeared behind the Crimson Dawn crew. Qi'ra was perplexed listening to those unconventional words, but she couldn't see the face of who was uttering them.

"What the hell!" a White Worm exclaimed, turning around.

There was a moment of silence, then the enigmatic character came out of the shadows and positioned himself under the dim light of a street lamp.

"...and Fortune, on his damned quarrel, smiling, showed like a rebel's whore."

And so saying, the man in black took off his cloak, revealing darting eyes silhouetted in a face red like a fire, painted with black tattoos and marked by some scars.

Terror overwhelmed Qi'ra, and she wasn’t able to move or think about anything.

"Go away, crazy Zabrak!" ordered Dryden Vos, clutching Qi'ra's throat.

"But all's too weak, for brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name..."

As the strange creature proceeded slowly, with a cold calm and a firm but dangerous step like a predator, the White Worms wielded their weapons.

"Have you heard? Do you want to be killed?" threatened the near-human, turning to his opponent.  
  
"Disgusting Dathomirian!" said a White Worm, walking towards the mysterious figure to face him.  


He didn't seem intimidated at all.

"...disdaining Fortune, he brandished his steel which smoked with bloody execution."

So sentencing, the Zabrak suddenly pulled out and activated his red double-bladed lightsaber, easily defeating and killing his first victim.

"Kill him!" Dryden Vos screamed angrily, and the two White Worms still alive promptly obeyed.  
  
He easily avoided their blows, disarming the first of them and throwing him to his death.  
  
The blood flowed quickly from the White Worm's arm as he was dying, and under Qi'ra's dismayed gaze a dark spot spread out and covered the street.

She hadn't the courage to run away; the whole scene almost seemed surreal.  
  
The strong Zabrak was animated by a superhuman rage and with a firm hand inflicted one shot after another to his next foe, manifesting an impeccable precision and skill in the fight.

It was not long before the last White Worm fell dead under the fatal blade of the Dathomirian, forcing the Lord of the Crimson Dawn to come forward.  


Dryden Vos, in a last but vain attempt, brandished his weapon and hurled himself at him, but the Zabrak promptly responded to his attack.

A wild fury guided the movements of the indomitable Zabrak. He didn't seem to make a mistake, and the red light of his tremendous double-bladed lightsaber struck undaunted the ill-fated near-human, with all reflected in the frightened eyes of Qi'ra.

Dryden Vos was disarmed and fell to the ground with a crash, banging his head on the asphalt. His heartbeat accelerated as his breath was about to fail him.  


The Zabrak put his foot on Vos’s stomach to keep him immobilized and prepared himself to settle the last fatal blow.

"Mercy! Mercy!" the defeated leader pleaded, hoping to convince his fearsome opponent.  
  
"No mercy for the Lord of the Crimson Dawn."

And without hesitation, he killed Dryden Vos by striking him in the heart.

  
  
Meanwhile, Qi'ra had remained close to the wall all this time, observing the execution of her persecutor, astonished and gasping with the eyes wide.

"Are you hurt?" the Zabrak asked, turning off his saber and retrieving his black cloak.  
  
Still visibly confused, she thought about his question for a while.

"No, I'm fine... I think I'm fine. Thanks to you" she answered in a faint voice. She was still trembling, and her legs were about to fail her.

"We have to leave this place; soon the syndicate men will be here."  
  
The Zabrak held out his hand to Qi'ra, inviting her to follow him. She grabbed it, hesitating.  
  
She didn't know exactly why she had accepted his invitation, but she felt that with this strange creature she would be safe.

They passed on, leaving behind the dead bodies of the Crimson Dawn men, and quickly headed for another dark street. The mysterious figure didn't speak and Qi'ra was guided by him, although she ignored where he was leading her.  
  
She decided to end the silence.

"Are you like, a crazy person? A terrorist?" she asked, stammering, trying to hide her insecurity.

He turned to her, showing a slight smile.

"I am quite sure they will say so. But to whom, might I ask, am I speaking?" 

That question displaced her. She still wasn't sure she could trust him, but decided to answer anyway.

"I'm Qi'ra..." she stopped.  
  
Suddenly the air was disrupted by a noise that grew closer and closer, until some TIE fighters appeared on the smoky dark sky of Corellia. The Zabrak pushed himself against a wall to hide and promptly shielded Qi'ra by holding her to him, covering her with his cloak.  
  
The TIE fighters flew over without noticing them and slowly the ships' noise disappeared, so they could start walking again.  
  
Above them the sky was clear again, the streets of the city were deserted, and a thin layer of black soot shadowed palaces, houses, and buildings.

Overcome by curiosity, finally Qi'ra decided to speak.

"And who are you?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
He looked at her with an almost amused expression, perhaps pondering it as a funny question.

"I'm Maul. Formerly Darth, now just Maul."

As soon as he said that name, she understood.  
  
"Of course you are..." she said almost in a whisper, thoughtful.  
  
She had heard so many stories about him over the years; his name was known throughout the galaxy. Some considered him a hero, others a fallen Sith, and still others only an outlaw. It was said he was dead, killed by a Jedi, or perhaps that he had escaped by taking refuge in an unknown planet in the Outer Rim.

For Qi'ra, Darth Maul had always been only a legend, but now he was there. Really there.  
  
While she was lost in her thought, Maul suddenly spoke.  
  
"Tell me, do you know what day it is, Qi'ra?"

His warm and seductive voice made her awaken, and that question seemed to her rather unusual.  
  
"November the fourth?" she hazarded.  
  
He gave a soft laugh.  
  
"Not anymore..."

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Cory (cosmic23 on ao3, bookgirl102 on tumblr) for her amazing beta skills!


End file.
